Lara Croft's Latest Tomb Raider Adventure is a Reboot Done Right

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Crystal Dynamics's upcoming series reboot—slated to hit store shelves on March 5—sees the iconic Lara Croft embarking on her first adventure. The tomb raider, however, isn't the seasoned adventurer who starred in series of PC and console games; this Lara is green to the core and learns the nature of survival, and killing, after the boat on which she travelled shipwrecks in the legendary Dragon's Triangle.

The previous Tomb Raider build that I played began shortly after Lara washed on shore of an island, and featured her plank-walking over dangerous pits, climbing rocks, leaping chasms, and killing animals for survival. The latest build picked up after that section and focused on combat—but not initially.

I was tasked with guiding Lara—hands bound—through a camp lousy with enemies. Light stealth elements allowed me to duck and hide behind objects to avoid being spotted by the heavily-armed guards. It's not a Metal Gear Solid level of stealth, but it does break up the action nicely. The sequence ends with Lara getting into a hard-hitting QTE-based scuffle with a guard, obtaining his gun, and blowing a hole in his face.

This is where the new Tomb Raider differs from the older series entries. Lara, in years past, would have simply moved on to another combat sequence, but in Tomb Raider 2013 she feels the impact of taking a human life. She breaks down a bit, and though the sequence wasn't as impactful as I would've liked, it did humanize the character. Lara's no longer just a pair with guns, which is a welcome change.

In fact, in the game's early stages, Lara struggles with nearly everything she does. Due to the shipwreck, she's dirty, bloodied, and walks holding her side when heavily damaged. When Lara lands a high jump, she stumbles and catches her balance. When she climbs across a gap hand-over-hand, she loses her grip and needs the player to help her finish the task. Lara's grunts and the game's cinematic camera angles and swelling soundtrack are designed to make players feel her struggle—and you do.

Successfully completing challenges nets XP that's used to enhance Lara's ability and transform her over the course of the game into the death-defying adventurer who's thrilled millions. Her weapons, too, can be enhanced. Between powering up her body and weapons, Lara can execute a number of moves that aren't available when you first boot the games—like axe kills. In my time with the game, I offed baddies with pistols and bows.

Tomb Raider feels very much like a fresh start—a fresh start that manages to keep the essence of the character and series. Franchise fans need not fear that Tomb Raider will suffer DmC's fate.

For more than a decade, Jeffrey L. Wilson has penned gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for a variety of publications, including 1UP, 2D-X, The Cask, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. He now brings his knowledge and skillset to PCMag as Senior Analyst.
When he isn't staring at a monitor (or two) and churning out Web hosting, music, utilities, and video game copy, Jeffrey mentors, practices Jeet Kune Do, blogs, podcasts, and speaks at the occasional con. He also collects vinyl and greatly enjoys...
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